Filtering by Tag: musician health

Lately, I’ve been thinking about concussions, both in the pilates and yoga space, and in music. For whatever reason, I’ve had a number of friends and colleagues suffer concussions lately, and I’ve been seeing the ramifications of that.

First though, what actually is a concussion? According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, a concussion is, “A concussion is an injury to the brain that results in temporary loss of normal brain function, …usually caused by a blow to the head.” For my friends, that can mean a fall, an impact from an object such as a soccer ball, a bike or car accident, or something else. In a concussion or head injury, the brain moves inside the skull but without sufficient cushion from the cerebrospinal fluid, meaning that the potential for damage to nerves, blood cells, or microscopic damage is high. Symptoms and sensations after a concussion can range from nonexistent to headaches, dizziness, vision issues, difficulty focusing, sensitivity to sounds, ringing ears, sensitivity to sounds, and more. Although these symptoms can be overwhelming in and of themselves, musicians face a unique set of challenges in that ensemble playing may be completely different after a concussion.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a few pilates clients after a concussion, and I’ve seen some of the challenges people face afterwards. First though, a concussion is not a visible disability, meaning that you may be struggling with energy, focus, or headaches, but you will appear fine to your friends, family and coworkers. In addition, your medical professionals may just tell you that you have post-concussive syndrome, but not give you a lot of suggestions for recovery aside from that. I’ve seen how my clients’ concerns are dismissed by their doctors at time, despite the fact that they may feel helpless and are not receiving care and strategies for recovery. In addition, not all damage or anomalies can be detected in CT scans or MRI’s, meaning that just because the data looks fine doesn’t mean that concerns shouldn’t be taken seriously. While it can be frustrating and overwhelming, the most important thing is to find a clinician that either specializes in concussion recovery or is willing to take concerns seriously, whether it’s a PT, bodyworker, neurologist, or other professional.

Musicians though, face a unique set of challenges with a minor concussion, especially if they are primarily performers.

Sensitivity to sound and light can make ensemble work overwhelming, between stage lights, glare, and no control of volume.

Vision issues an dizziness can make reading music challenging, even if the individual doesn’t have any need for glasses or corrective eyewear.

Headaches and an inability to focus can make ensemble counting equally challenging, make it difficult to follow directions in a rehearsal, and make it difficult to be aware of blending.

Stress, whether rooted in work, family, or performance can also increase symptoms and sensitivity.

Some musicians additionally face some cognitive and motor challenges, feeling as though their hands and fingers don’t move as fluidly as they previously did, or that things feel differently than they used to.

Both the NCAA and NFL have extensive concussion guidelines for identifying symptoms and protocol, but by and large, the suggestion is rest and treatment for headaches. That being said, the brain is incredibly plastic, meaning that changes can absolutely happen over time. The brain changes and adapts and there are more resources and understanding about neuroplasticity than ever before.

Here are some resources out there, both in terms of social media, communities in recovery, and medical professionals:

Molly Parker DPT, is a physical therapist specializing in post concussion recovery, and she has a terrific instagram and community around discussion, support, and treatment.

I started this blog almost exactly 5 years ago, when I was fortunate enough to win an orchestra position with the San Antonio Symphony, and I found myself wondering how best to share the things I was learning in my yoga and anatomy trainings. In the last few years, many things have changed, both in the musician wellness field and in general, and it’s interesting to reflect on those things.

More people are talking about musician and performing arts health in general. Although professional musician injuries are still a taboo topic, the conversation is changing. Some public articles about musician health have also made these issues more apparent, such as Janet Horvath’s article about hearing loss and numerous national publications about health and music.

More learning is being done online, whether in musician health, fitness, stress management, or other fields. That brings offerings to a wider audience, and many of those offerings are free, such as blogs and podcasts, which can also help those in less populated areas, or distant countries. One of the most humbling things about running this blog has been seeing the many readers from different countries, far beyond what I ever imagined!

With online learning comes online course offerings and digital media. While many digital courses are thoughtful, reasonably priced, and supportive, others are incredibly expensive, whether it’s a $600 course on performance strategies, or a $100 two hour workshop on the shoulders. When courses are this expensive, it makes me question the idea of bringing content to a wider audience accessibly, and can make it difficult to sort out the really high quality offerings from the overpriced ones.

More musician health courses are being offered in colleges, high schools, summer camps, and other places of learning. As a trainee in Andover Educators, which offers Body Mapping courses and classes, I’ve seen the growth in their offerings alone, in conjunction with other disciplines such as yoga, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, and more. Yet, many of those offerings are a one day workshop, rather than a longer format class. I’d love to see more schools adopt a semester long course offering, as well as have resources on staff, such as a physical therapist or massage therapist.

The musician health field is changing in terms of awareness of injury potential, but many older musicians are not educated on self-care, anatomy, and injury prevention, which not only means that they are more prone to having playing related injuries, but they are not always able to offer solutions to their students. In addition, most established symphonies do not have a strong health focus- adult musicians are ultimately left to their own devices to manage a health concern, injury, or maintenance.

Musicians, as a community, are starting to address some of the mental health challenges of our profession. Extreme stress, anxiety, perfectionism…these are just some of the challenges of a performance career. More resources are definitely needed, but I’m happy to see the conversation at least begin with offerings such as Dana Fonteneau’s, of the Wholehearted Musician, or Travis Baird’s Dynamic Music Teacher offerings.

Musicians are also starting to discuss orchestral auditions- the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of the classical orchestral path. John Beder’s 2016 documentary, Composed, paved a new path for discussion about this, with a huge range of interviews with different musicians internationally, as well as a successful documentary tour that visited numerous colleges, conservatories, and symphonies.

As a community, we are also starting to discuss sexual violence, power, greed, and assault. While these issues are certainly not resolved, the fact that they are even being discussed and acknowledged is huge progress. Many people in this field have known about certain teachers, performers, or conductors’ inappropriate behavior, and those issues are finally being discussed and taken seriously, after being covered up for decades.

The idea of musicians as movers is becoming more accepted- similar to athletes and dancers, musicians fundamentally use their body for both art and small muscle athleticism. Yet, both dancers and athletes have a certain retirement age of 30’s-40’s, whereas musicians are expected to play throughout their life. Dancers are often taught kinesiology, anatomy, and self-care classes throughout their dance career, and I’d argue that musicians should also be educated on the body, given that we need to make a career out of it for 30-40 years from the age we go to college. More bodyworkers, chiropractors, physical therapists, doctors, and movement educators are seeing the work we do as musicians, and are interested in helping, which is fantastic!

There is still much work to be done, but it does give me great hope to see change in the field overall, and that more people are interested in learning about their own body, and how to have a long lasting healthy career in music. In my own life, I left my section viola position in San Antonio to freelance in Seattle this past year, and have been overwhelmed and grateful for this change in dynamic. I have a wide range of pilates clients and am able to both teach pilates, yoga, and work with musicians, in addition to maintaining my performance career, and I believe how helping musicians move better and feel better is absolutely critical to sustaining classical music from the inside out.